I received an advanced copy of Chasing Embers via Netgalley, and shortly after the good people at Little Brown Book Group asked me if I would be interested in participating in a blog tour… how exciting! Had to ask what a blog tour was of course, being fairly new to the blogosphere, but still, quite pleased for the opportunity.

As such, took great interest in reading the book, and got ready to prepare a good, honest, more comprehensive review of Chasing Embers than my typical short blurb on recent reads… so here goes!

First off, Ben Garston, the main character, is a dragon… don’t think I need to send a spoiler alert here… it says so right in the cover! But the trick here, is that the dragon takes human form and lives as a typical human (mainly) in present times. And at interesting times as well, as a new being from Egyptian mythology is awakened and brings havoc to Ben and the world. I won’t go into further details here (this is a review, not a summary) but suffice to say, lots of chasing, fighting, world-hopping, magical battles, and the like ensues.

I really enjoy novels that mesh mythology and modern times… if done well. Earlier this year I read a book called The Immortals showcasing Greek Gods living in modern New York, and it was highly enjoyable. So, coming into Chasing Embers, expectations were high. I actually lived in Egypt for a year when I was a kid, so my interest in Egyptian mythology has always been more than healthy. Also, a sucker for anything fantasy related (as you may have seen from my reading habits). So, went full on into the novel with high hopes. Unfortunately, the issue with expectations… they are rarely met. And this case was no exception.

So, Chasing Embers – an intriguing concept, a solid world building, an incredible amount of research into countless myth and fantasy lore… yet not that great of a story. Hard as I tried to get into it, failed to be engaged. Main fault lies with the main character itself. Just not interesting enough… Ben is a bloody dragon, yet all I got is this whiny, annoying person that I just couldn’t care enough for. Where was the wit, the sarcasm, the fun? Not to be found in a centuries old dragon, I’m afraid. Add to that the fact that none of the other characters are worthy of note to be honest, and you just stop caring about what drives the story and barely manage to the end. The writing style doesn’t help… slightly banal, sometimes overdescriptive and unnecessarily repetitive, not enough of a unique voice to make the novel stand out in a very crowded urban fantasy scene.

My sense after reading Chasing Embers, is that it was a good idea, but poorly executed. But it is not all gloom and doom. Those responsible for marketing the book have compared it to Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden books, and rightly so. Here’s the thing – in my mind, the first few Dresden books weren’t that great. It was only in the third or fourth novel that the story really took off, that the character found its feet and the series took off to stand out as a benchmark in urban fantasy. The world and backdrop to Chasing Embers is quite interesting, and should the characters become more compelling, and the writing more polished, one sees the potential for something great. But for now, at least on a stand alone basis, it was just okay.

Give it a 3 out of 5 – not that great of a read, but sufficient elements here to make me look and potentially give the inevitable sequels another shot.